Troutguy

I've looked at so many boat pictures and plans, I can just start sawing and come up with a pretty good boat from scratch.

I received the River Runner plans today... I have some other jonboat plans that I'll use instead.

After measuring my Toyota truck bed, my boat will be 36" wide. Then I can slide it in the back of my truck, or build a trailer one day down the road. Life is good...

My last jonboat was 42" wide and it had great stability, but I would not use it on a class II river either.

Well, I'm surely not into rowing anymore but guiding a boat with oars is ok. Now, back to boat building... sorry I changed the subject.

I have the plans to build a wooden drift boat, but the river I fish is about 7-miles of slow water. I simply don't care to row that distance. I need a boat that will cover some distance in slow water without rowing my brains out all day. A canoe would be perfect for this float... but if a canoe see's me getting close, it flips over! Honestly, I'm never comfortable in a canoe and never will be.

I sure wish I could see some close-up pictures of a Lowe Paddle Jon... the end dimensions would help too (width & height).

You guys are a gold mine of the information that I needed... Thanks. Gavin... I have the Larry D. book on building a 14' boat, and had the Bittersweet plan already bookmarked. I want to see the set of River Runner plans before I start building. Lee G... Thanks for all the measurments, the float trip I do is a little over 7-miles in one day. Therefore, a narrow boat would probably cover more water with less effort but a wider boat has more stability. Gotmuddly... My sawmill friend keeps Cypress in 20' lengths cut, but I am several hundred miles away. Fishincricket... Since you have a Lowe Jon, would you build a boat with a 32" bottom, or make it wider? Please keep the boat ideas coming... Thanks

I'm waiting on the plans to arrive, they should be here later this week. The cost is in the marine plywood, I have a friend with a sawmill and my cypress and oak lumber was really cheap. Forgot in the above post, when I said "row" I meant... steer (guide) the boat down river with the oars. I haven't thought much about the fiberglass yet...

I've been floating rivers for over 50-years now, and finally ready to build my own rig. I want a rig that I can paddle, row at times and use a trolling motor if I need too on the slow water. I've search the web for months now, and like the old-style "Lowe Paddle Jon" the best for my use. Thanks to Gavin's post on this board, I found the plans to build the boat and have ordered the plans. I have my marine plywood, cypress lumber and white oak for the rails in hand, and can't wait to get started. Now, from you guys that have used this style boat on flowing rivers... what floor width do you recommend? The 32" floor width seems a little narrow, and I don't think I want to load a 42" wide boat by myself often. How stable would a 32" wide x 16' boat be? I prefer stability over performance, but don't want to overdo it either. Thanks for your help, in advance. Best wishes...